Debunking the World’s Greatest Lie
The Mission Newsletter, 6/22/18
“Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.” — William Arthur Ward
Debunking the World’s Greatest Lie
Episode 40 of The Mission Daily
There’s a myth going around that you don’t have agency in your life. Chad and Ian dispel that falsehood and help you find ways to express what you want and put in the work to get the most out of relationships and experiences.
Listen to Episode 40 on iTunes or Google Play.
The Mission Daily is a podcast dedicated to accelerated learning and helping you become healthier, wealthier, and wiser. It is designed to help you learn — as fast as you possibly can.
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News That Matters
Health
A new technique has been developed that uses light to bend and manipulate cells without damaging the cell’s use or function. The process includes using precise light-mediated control of protein activity in cells to reconstruct elliptical folding, a process in which cells move inward and fold into an embryo to form internal tissue and muscle.
“We’ve uncoupled the link between the shape and function of the cell,” said research leader Stefano De Renzis. “This allows us to, for the first time, build tissues in certain shapes without affecting the cell’s expertise.”
Read up on cell manipulation here.
Wealth
New research reveals that the millionaires and billionaires in the population now own nearly half of all the wealth in the entire world.
A recent report on global wealth showed that the rich are getting richer — and doing so at a more rapid pace than we’ve ever seen.
“An Oxfam study published in January found that during 2017, ‘a new billionaire was created every two days.’ According to that report, ’82 percent of all wealth created went to the top 1 percent of the world’s richest while zero percent — absolutely nothing — went to the poorest half of the global population.’”
North America, and the United States specifically, has the highest concentration of millionaires and billionaires. The report states that North America held more than 40 percent of global personal wealth.
Learn more here.
Wisdom
Knowing as much as you can about your genetic makeup is always helpful when making decisions that affect your health. At-home genetic testing has become more common these days, but there are certain pros and cons to the practice.
The gene-testing company 23andMe recently was the first to win FDA approval to market genetic detection of cancer directly to consumers, and their tests can also help ordinary folks learn early on that they are at-risk for things such as Alzheimer’s disease. However, tests like these are still new, and can lead to inconclusive or incomplete results that can cause confusion. Plus, privacy concerns about private medical records being leaked are very much an issue.
Checking directly with a medical professional is still the best way to go about anything health-related and to best arm yourself with the information you need.
More about the pros and cons of genetic testing can be found here.
Tech Trends
It should be easy to switch from your smartphone to your in-home speakers, right? That’s what Google thinks, and with their new Google Podcast app, the search giant is finally making the transition easy.
Using Google Assistant software, users of the app will be able to seamlessly switch from their Androids to their Google Home devices, picking up their podcasts right where they left off — which has proven difficult with other platforms such as the Amazon Alexa. The podcast app also integrates into Google’s search app, so users can find and play podcasts directly from their search without fumbling through switching apps or losing their place.
More on the new tech here.
Marketing Trends
MoviePass is getting some competition.
AMC, the largest theater company in the world, is launching a subscription plan to rival MoviePass, which has been disrupting the film business for the better part of a year with its low-price movie-going subscription service.
AMC’s plan, which will cost $19.95 per month (more than double MoviePass’s $9.95 price tag), will allow subscribers to see up to three movies per week. Other perks that help differentiate AMC from MoviePass include the ability to reserve tickets in advance, rewatch the same movie, and see more than one movie in a day.
As prices for movie tickets have increased, attendance has been declining. Both companies are trying to fight that trend.
More details here.
Education Trends
With the student debt crisis growing and higher education getting farther out of reach for many young people who simply cannot afford to attend a university, there is a serious need for change.
One method to address this problem is an idea that dates back to the 1950s — Income Share Agreements. Rather than a student taking out a loan, a college will front a portion of the schools’ tuition to the student with the agreement that once that student graduates, is gainfully employed, and making a salary above a certain threshold, he or she would pay a percentage of their salary back to their alma mater.
“Among other benefits, proponents argue, this approach gives schools incentive to ensure students can land jobs when they graduate (and therefore have earnings to share).”
Other innovative solutions are also being kicked around, including “work colleges,” where every student is also an employee of the school. Both ideas are part of a new proposal that calls for the establishment of a five-year, $50 million College Finance Innovation Fund to encourage the development of alternatives to student debt. With those Fund proceeds, we can provide seed capital for exploring and testing new ideas; to collect data and to conduct evaluations; and to defray implementation costs for schools adopting the most promising approaches.
Read the entire proposal here.
The Best of What We Are Listening To
New technology is emerging every day, and it can be difficult to keep up with the latest research and trends. That’s why our team at The Mission has compiled a list of our favorite tech podcasts!
These 35 shows will teach you the history of innovation, keep you up-to-date on current advancements, and help you peer into the future of tech. 💻 🤖 🎧
Our Media
The Mission is a new kind of media company. We publish stories, videos, and podcasts to help smart people get smarter. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or learn more about us here. We’d love to connect!
Custom Podcasts
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We create custom podcast sponsorships for enterprise companies. To learn more about why companies like Salesforce trust us to produce results, connect with our team here.
